My daily commute to work sees me travelling up Waltham Rd to Moorhouse Ave and then around to Fitzgerald Ave. Mostly OK, thanks to the various cycle lanes, although Fitzgerald Ave can be a bit daunting. But there’s one other location that sometimes creates a few issues for me…
At the top of Waltham Rd I need to turn right into Moorhouse Ave. The intersection has some interesting quirks (e.g. why do they show three green signals when you can’t go straight ahead?) but my trickiest challenge is switching over from the left-hand kerbside cycle lane to the right-turn cycle lane.
If the traffic is all stopped, then I can normally get across OK in between the queued vehicles (if they leave a decent gap…). However if (like in this photo) the left lane of traffic is moving, then it is a tricky dance to find a safe gap in the traffic to move over. Often when I come over the crest of the overbridge beforehand, I take note of which traffic movements are currently running at the intersection so I can judge whether I need to shift across early.
Little niggles like this illustrate the challenge for many “interested but concerned” riders out there. I’m a fairly experienced and confident rider, so I generally manage to make the manoeuvre just fine, but others would be put off even trying to do that (they might elect instead to stay left, use the pedestrian crossing, and then effectively do an informal hook turn to turn right). So the more we can address these little problems over time, the more we’ll get people comfortable riding more often…
Do you have intersections on your biking routes that cause you concern?
I’d say the biggest annoyances on my regular rounds are all around Colombo St from Sydenham to Beckenham.
Coming along Somerfield St, getting on to Colombo is tricky, especially if you want to turn left, given that strange Y with Strickland. Coming out of Angus Street (because you took the bike path from Roker and turning right is scary. Accessing the Mitre10 on King St and leaving it likewise. And there are some good shopping destinations in the block between Huxley and Walton, but the motor traffic is often such that entering and existing Walton St, or the shops opposite Walton St, is hazardous. Colombo from Brougham to Somerfield could really do with some love for bikes.
Getting on and off the Park Terrace cycleway, at the northern end in particular is a challenge in busy traffic. Briggs Road is not a pleasant ride, but the new intersection upgrade at Marshland / Briggs makes it more palatable. Hills and Shirley Roads / Warrington St is a big improvement now too. It seems a slow process, but every so often changes are made that gives one hope. It was a red letter day when a simple shared path was put in on the west side of Foster Street as it exits Tower Junction to cross Blenheim Road onto Mandeville Street. A dire crossing to make prior to that.
I’ve found it expedient to leave the Park Terrace cycleway and ride over the bus stop space while looking backward for a gap to cross into the right-turning bay for Salisbury St. Minimises the possibility of a head-on with an oncoming bike.
Just before Sockburn Roundabout – where Lowthar Street merges two lanes into two other lanes on Main South Road. It’s horrible for cars too, the whole area needs a re-think given modern traffic requirements.
Traveling west on Moorhouse Ave through the Lincoln Road intersection, jumping into the long exposed cycling lane feels risky.
Both Memorial Ave and Brougham St are sketchy-narrow for a lot of their length.